“Let’s take the new car, Daddy.” That’s what I heard from my son each time that we needed to go somewhere. I was test driving a 2015 Toyota Sienna and my son was convinced that it was the greatest vehicle ever designed.
We explored a lot of Seattle in the Sienna. My wife was out of town visiting her mom, so it was just us boys (dog included) at home for the week. I rarely have a chance to spend time alone with my son, which made this a special weekend to do some fun things together.
My son had a new found sense of independence with the Sienna. I would use the remote to open one of the side doors. My son would climb in and pop up his footrest. After buckling in, he would push his button to close the door on his own – which he thought was the greatest thing since chocolate milk. He would then put on his headphones and either watch a movie or listen to his own radio station, using the controls in the second row. He loved this little bit of independence and I couldn’t help but smile at my little boy who was growing up too fast.
On one of our trips, we drove downtown to see the Seattle Aquarium. My son is fascinated with animals and we have been spending a lot of time at the zoo and have been watching a lot of animal shows on TV. The aquarium was a chance to see something different and we had a lot of fun watching the otters skim by the aquarium glass and touching the starfish in the giant sensory tanks. My son said that he liked the giant octopus most of all. I was hoping to see another octopus escape attempt, like the one on YouTube, but he seemed pretty sedate during our visit.
We also visited Pike Place Market because it is fun to see guys throwing fish. Just as fascinating was the gum wall in the Post Alley, which has to be one of the grossest tourist locations around. We added our own sticky contribution, with Matthew spelling out his name in double bubble chew.
Before heading home, we stopped by Hello Robin, our favorite little bakery and ice cream place in Capitol Hill. It is a little out of the way, but the Mackles’more (a s’more cookie with Theo chocolate chunks) is worth the trip alone.
The streets around Capitol Hill are narrow and can get bumpy in some places where the original brick streets are exposed. The Toyota Sienna was easier to maneuver than I expected, for a larger vehicle. It was easy to see around the vehicle when parallel parking and the park assist feature made it simple to squeeze into a tight parking spot.
I liked the versatility of the Toyota Sienna. With the leather interior and captain’s chairs in the second row, it felt upscale enough to offer coworkers a lift to our lunch spot without thinking twice. For the family, the Sienna was easy to climb into and had room for everyone and all of our stuff. And when I needed to haul a new barbecue home, I just lowered the rear seats with the push of a button.
Like all good things, our time with the Toyota Sienna and boy’s weekend eventually came to an end. My son and I had a lot of fun exploring the city together and he still asks when we will get a Sienna so that he can have a footrest and TV again.
